Book 58, Country 64 - Australia

The Broken Shore by Peter Temple – first published 2005

Detective Joe Cashin is recovering from a recent trauma and has therefore been sent to the quiet small South Australian town where he grew up to recover his confidence.  However a rich local man is attacked in his own home and later dies and Cashin leads the investigation.  Most of the characters in the book, including the police officers seem to spend most of their time swearing, which may be realistic but was a bit off-putting.  The storyline is okay but not exceptional and it wouldn’t make you want to go to South Australia on holiday.  Presumably the story is set in winter, as it always seems to be raining and/or cold - I thought it was only the British who were always talking about the weather! 5/10

24th November 2011